End-gate



I. ORUZAN.

(No Model.)

END GATE.

No. 601,433. Patented Mar. 29,1898..A

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. UNTTED STATES PATENT I ISAAC CRUZAN, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

END-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forminglpart of Letters Patent No. 601,433, dated March 29, 1898.

Application filed June 29, 1897.

.To a/ZZ whom t may con/cern.;

Be it known that I, ISAAC ORUZAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful End-Gate, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in end-gates to be used as a shoveling-board as well as a closure for a wagon-body; and the object of my present improvement is to construct the various parts in the simplest possible manner consistent with strength, durability, and wear of the several elements, thereby enabling me to produce a structure which can be manufactured and sold at a low figure.

With these ends in View my invention consists in the peculiar construction, arrangement, and adaptation of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in whichy Figure 1 is a perspective view of my endgate, showing it closed and locked against the rear end of a wagon-body. Fig. 2 is a side elevation with the end-gate lowered to show it adapted for service as a shoveling-board. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view through the end-gate to show the manner of uniting the wings thereto, the plane of the section being indicated by the dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. La detail View of the locking-catch. Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the clips or brackets upon which the end-gate may rest when turned to an upright position. Fig. Gis a detail view of the bracket-plate.

Like numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings, referring to which- 1 designates my improved end-gate. The gate proper is made of wood, and it is provided at its side edges with the tapering Wings 2 2, which Aare made of metal, preferably sheet-steel. The wings are iianged at their straight edges, as indicated at 3 3, and

the wings are applied laterally to the edges of the gate 1 to have their ianges 3 3 overlap the gate. Across the outside of the gate and the overlapping iianges of the wings are ar- Serial No. 642,835. (No model.)

ranged the cleats 4, that bear upon the gate and the flanged wings, and the parts are substantial 1y and securely united together by the bolts 5, that pass through the cleats, the llanges of the wings, and the'gate. This construction is very simple and produces a gate Vwhich is strong and durable in service.

An ordinary wagon-body, such as is in everyday use extensively throughout the country, is indicated at 7 in the drawings. Such a wagon-body is usually constructed with an outside horizontal cleat 8, which is fastened to the lower side at the rear edge of the bottom of the wagon-body, and said cleat 8 is extended at its ends beyond the side walls of the wagon-body, as at 9. The wagon-body is also provided with inside parallel cleats 10, which are attached to the walls or sides of said body at its open rear end.

I construct myend-gate to utilize the projecting ends 9 of the bottom cleat as bearings for the wings of the end-gate. To this end the wide end of each wing is cut away from the lian ged edge to a suitable distance near the inclined edge of said win g to provide the notch 11 and to make a projecting tongue 12 on the broad end of the wing, and the metal of the cut-away or notchedpart of the wing is doubled or folded upon` the tongue 12 to provide the reinforcement 13, that serves to make the tongue strong, prevent it from bending, and to serve as a bearing for the'tongue when the gate is turned to its upright position, because said reinforcement or doubled edge of the tongue is brought to bear against the front edge of the projecting end 9 of the bottom cleat S. As the cleat 8 is of wood, it is liable to become worn by the edges of the metallic wing bearing thereon, and to obviate this I apply metallic wear-plates 14. to the extended ends 9 of the cleat. These wear-plates are flanged or of angular form to embrace the top and front face of the end 9 of the wood cleat, and said plates are fastened in place by a staple ora bolt. V

To the rear edge of the bottom of the wagonbody are attached the brackets or keepers 15, upon which the end-gate 1 rests and by which its inner or lower edge is heldin position when the gate is lowered. These brackets each consist of an angular piece of metal flanged to fit against the edge of the bottom of the wagon'- IOO ' tached by screws or bolts.

body, to which said bracket or keeper is at- The brackets eX- tend outwardly to form good supports for the lower edge of the end-gate, and said brackets have upwardly-extending anges to embrace the metallic wings of the end-gate when the gate is turned to a vertical position to cause the notched edges of the wings to restupon the projecting ends 9 of the bottom cleat 8.

Near the sides of the end-gate, at points between the top and bottom edges thereof, are produced the holes 17, which coincide with similar holes 19, formed in the flanges 3 of the wings 2. Through these holes 17 19 in the end-gate and its wings pass the holding and locking rods 20. These rods are provided at `their outer ends with the angular bentnibs 21, and the inner ends of said rods are formed into hooks or eyes, which are loosely connected to the holding-straps 23. These holding-straps are applied to the outside of the walls of the wagon-body, to which they are fastened by suitable bolts or screws. The holding-straps have their rear ends extended beyond the rear edge of the wagon-body, and said extended ends of the straps are bent to form the angular flange that laps the rear edge of the body. The rearprojecting extremity of the holding-strap has an eye or aperture into which is loosely fitted the hoo-k or eye on the forward end of the holding-rod.

The rear bent ends of the holding-straps are adapted to pass through the openings 17 19 in the gate and its wings when the gatey is turned to a vertical position against the wagon-body, and the rods 20 are intended to be folded or turned inwardly across the outside of the gate to be held in place bya locking-catch 25, which is attached to the middle of the gate.

As the edges of the openings 17 19 in the gate and its wings are exposed to considerable wear, due tothe pressure thereon of the holding-rods when they are turned across the gate, I provide the heavy wear-plates 24, which are fitted over the iianges of the wings and which are themselves hanged to embrace the outside of the wings, said wear-plates being held securely in place by bolts, as shown. Each wear-plate iits over the gate and the hanged wing where the openings are produced therein, and the wear-plate itself has an opening 24', which coincides with the openings 17 19, and the edge of the wear-plate is thus presented as a bearing or fulcrum for the locking-rod when the latter is turned crosswise on the gate to be engaged with the catch. This catch 25 is of novel construction, designed to securely hold the inner ends of `the rods in secure engagement therewith andtoenable the operator to adjust said catch to easilyand quickly release the same from the rods. The catch consists of an elongated shank bent at an intermediate point of its length, and one end of this shank is fastened to the gate 1 by bolts or screws. The

thereof, which stands off from the face of the end-gate, is attached a spring 27. This spring isof the kind known as a leaf-spring,and it is normally inclined away from the offstanding free end of the shank, so as to project toward the gate 1, thus closing the space or throat between the ostanding end of the shank and the gate. In the shankis formed a transverse aperture 28, through which passes the operating-spindle 29, the inner end of which is rigidly attached to the free end of the spring 27, while the outer end of Said spindle is provided with a suitable head 30, adapted to afford a convenient means tothe operator in retracting the spring 27 to permit the rods to be withdrawn from engagement with the catch. When the gate is turned to a vertical position against the wagon-body, the projecting angular ends of the holding straps pass through the openings in the gate, its flanged wings, and the wear-plates. The rods 2O are now turned across the gate to bear upon the wear-plates 24, and the inner ends of said rods may be snapped into engagement with the catch 25, the spring 27 of which yields to permit the inner ends of the rods to pass below said spring. TheV rods are thus held by the catch to hold the gate in its locked position; but to lower the gate the operator pulls on the spindle 29 to retract the spring 27, then lifts the rods out of the catch, and turns the rods to positions substantially in alinement with the holding-straps, whereby the gate may be lowered until its movement is arrested by the nibs or angular ends on the rods, the latter serving to hold the gate in its lowered position convenient for the removal of the contents of the wagon.

Various slight changes in the form and proportion of parts and in the details of construction may be made without departing from my l invention. y

Having thus fullydescribed myinvention,

l what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with an end-gate, and lockin-g-rodstherefor, 'of a catch comp-rising an offset shank forming a shoulder at an inf termediate point of its length and fastened at stantially as set forth.

2. The combination with an end-gate, and

i locking-rods therefor of an offset angularlybent fastener-shank attached at its lower end to the end-gate and having its free end arranged away from the gate to expose the v shoulder formed by the offset of the shank and enable the locking-rods to rest upon said shoulder, a spring on the free offstanding end of the shank and inclined toward the gate to `terminate above the shoulder of the shank, shank is designated at 26, and to the free end i and a headed stem fastened to the spring and IOC) ing-plates and provided at its free end with the spring and With the pull-spindle, sub` stantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 15 my `own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

ISAAC CRUZAN.

Witnesses:

J. O. PRIEST, ROBERT L. MONTGOMERY. 

